Governor Olson joined the Rotary Club of Tacoma in 1994 when membership by classification was still a thing. There were over 360 members of the Club. She was the third woman in the Club to serve as President (2004-2005). In 2007 she was the District 5020 District Conference Co-Chair. She and her husband, Rick, moved to Arlington, WA, in 2018 and she joined the Marysville Noon Club and then transferred to the Arlington Club. She has served a variety of roles in Clubs and at the District level including Foundation Committee Chair, Auction Committee Chair, Public Relations Chair, the District 5020 Newsletter Editor and Assistant Governor. Somewhere along the way Olson was also a facilitator at Pacific Northwest Presidents Elect Training Seminars (PETS, now known as PELS) and at District 5020 Training Assemblies.
One of the accomplishments during her year as Club President in Tacoma was a net gain of 36 new members. This happened during Rotary International's Centennial Year. She also advocates for new members to be immediately involved in one of the Club's Committees. While in Tacoma, she worked on a variety of projects including one in Lesotho on the African Continent. The Club partnered with World Vision, UNICEF, Pierce County and several church organizations to work in areas of Lesotho that had high incidents of HIV patients. They worked on keeping kids out of orphanages and supporting schools with desks.
When asked if she ever thought about being District Governor, Olson said she never thought about it. “Then PDG Dave Duskin got her involved with the District Public Relations Committee.” With her experience in District 5020 it seemed a natural progression to become Governor. She added “that this past twelve months have been hard” in part because she has been responsible for the District's training programs. She is grateful for PDG Sean Hogan and his counsel as she prepared for her Rotary Year.
Kathleen has been to five International Conventions including to the recently completed one in Taipei, Taiwan. She is looking forward to upcoming conventions in Barcelona and Dublin.
Kathleen was born and raised in Southern California. She graduated from Williams S. Hart High School and attended Los Angeles Valley College. She is a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator and has earned Certificates in Fundraising and Public Relations. She has been in nonprofit leadership positions since 1990 in social services and animal welfare. She was previously an advertising agency executive, journalist and airline flight attendant. Since 2017 she has been the Executive Director of Purrfect Pals Cat Sanctuary and Adoption Center in Arlington, WA.
Kathleen met Rick in 1994 when they were both volunteers at the Emergency Food Network in Tacoma. They married six months later, blending a family with two sons each. Rick joined Rotary in 1996 and has served as Sgt. of Arms three times, currently at the Rotary Club of Arlington.
They had moved to Arlington in 2018 when Kathleen accepted the Director Position at Purrfect Pals, and to be closer to family in Bellingham, where Kathleen’s brother-in-law Robert is also a Rotarian.
Community volunteerism for Kathleen has included serving as an officer on several local, regional and statewide nonprofit boards in social services, the arts and animal welfare. She was President of the Washington State Federation of Animal Care & Control Agencies in 2022-2023 and is a Senior Fellow with the American Leadership Forum.
Kathleen and Rick enjoy volunteering at community events, cruises, golf, cheering for the Seahawks, Kraken and Mariners sports teams and spending time with family and friends. They are dog foster parents for Old Dog Haven and currently have four senior Chihuahuas and two senior cats.
Olson would like Rotarians in our District to really look at your Club's Action Plan, seek ways to collaborate not just internally within your Club but also outside of your Club and last, but not least, support The Rotary Foundation.
What she would like people to know about our District is that we “are culturally diverse and we can accomplish great things together.”